British Ordnance Collectors Network
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Hello and ID please
- Thread starter RichieN
- Start date
dano1917
RIP
Unlike the gas projectiles, these were used when wind conditions were favorable (blowing toward enemy). The gas bottles were opened sometimes into a piping network to let the wind carry the gas cloud to the enemy positions. These generally predate the shells but not always. Great find! That's my story and i'm sticking to it...Dano
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Cylinders (cloud attacks) were used by all major combatants, except the US. The UK, Germany, Italy, France, Austrohungaria and Russia are all documented as having made use of the technique and had their own designs of cylinders.
The US joined the war after CW usage had progressed beyond the use of cylinders. The US was not able to get any of its CW perfected for use before the end of the war, but still fielded about 1 million pieces obtained from the UK and France.
One of the best detailed and very well referenced books on the subject is "Chemicals in War" written in 1937 by Augustine Prentiss. I would recommend this as a starting point for further research. If this is not available you can always try contacting the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) located in The Hague. They monitor the recovery and destruction of the world's chemical weapons, to include WWI and WWII sites in over 15 countries (not counting the modern stuff in many more). I've heard that they keep a database on pre-1946 CW.
The US joined the war after CW usage had progressed beyond the use of cylinders. The US was not able to get any of its CW perfected for use before the end of the war, but still fielded about 1 million pieces obtained from the UK and France.
One of the best detailed and very well referenced books on the subject is "Chemicals in War" written in 1937 by Augustine Prentiss. I would recommend this as a starting point for further research. If this is not available you can always try contacting the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) located in The Hague. They monitor the recovery and destruction of the world's chemical weapons, to include WWI and WWII sites in over 15 countries (not counting the modern stuff in many more). I've heard that they keep a database on pre-1946 CW.
Rumour has it that this "Database" is going through an overhaul as we speak, to try and iron out some of the inconsistancies left by it's previous owner ;-).